Time to stop drinking

With winter on its way, my birthday too (which is always a downer in itself...one more wasted year) I've been feeling lower then normal and with that drinking to further excess. Just been to the doctor and he was very direct about what I had to do, just like every counselor and therapist have been repeating and me claiming its my mental make-up not the drinking that is the problem. Well....its happened before, a second wind of- "I don't want to live like this anymore...I'm gonna change it" and its obvious what to do....Exercise, eat healthy, read more....simply DO more but ultimately....STOP DRINKING! Tried and failed a hundred times before but who knows, in a months time life could be very different so that's my aim- to go a full month without drinking and with that the counseling people will take me back and offer help for the other problems.

<- Just thinking aloud, don't expect a reply or anything just wanted to get my thoughts down.

Well, AA has worked well for me. It doesn't focus on drinking per se. The 12 steps only mention alcohol one time. I had to abandon some of my ideas for theirs. After 3 suicide attempts I figured their ideas couldn't be any WORSE. It sounds like giving up ones individuality at first but I am much freer to be myself than I was before. I am not to bothered by rejection or disapproval anymore.

AA doesn't require you to stop drinking for a month first. In fact, tradition three says that the only requirement to join is the desire to stop drinking. (Saying that, don't be surprised if you are gently asked to leave if you show up drunk to a meeting.)

We generally don't become addicts for no reason. Having met quite a bunch of people with addiction problems I discovered they seem to divide into the groups that want to either amplify the good time because it's never enough, or to cover up the bad time because it's too bad. Both those "approaches" have reasons in our psyche, and the reasons are deeper than just "I like to drink".

For me personally the record drink-less period I managed was 11 days. It was supposed to be a month but I kind of decided two weeks would do, and then after 11 days I decided I obviously wasn't an addict if I could do 11 days. So I got drunk. For a change. Once I joined NA (which also deals with alcohol) my clean period lasted 16 months, then I had a brief relapse connected to my bipolar disorder, and now -- see signature. Second time around is much easier -- I've learned a lot at the meetings and, like Bill says, maybe some of the ideas aren't the ones I would come up with but look at all the good my ideas have done.

Good luck!

You may find you are unable to stop. What happened to me was just before picking up that 1st drink (after trying to stop) is it seemed like a perfectly fine idea at the moment. You can't fight temptation if the idea makes sense to you, why would you??
With help(in my case AA)I never think about drinking anymore. A big bonus is a much better attitude toward life and an end to my depression. I did have to find the right meds to stop my depression but at least I stopped being suicidal as soon as I became sober. Now almost all my days are good (not the whole day but most of it).

i feel yah,, i want to stop drinking too, but can't find a strength on how to start it. yesterday is a crush, another pass out. it depressing me so hard